Fifty-three years after he lost his wallet in Antarctica, Paul Grisham, got it back last week Saturday.
Grisham worked as a Navy meteorologist on the ice-covered continent in the 1960s.
Grisham, 91, who now lives in San Diego, California, arrived in Antarctica in October 1967 as a navy meteorologist. At some point during his 13-month assignment, he lost his wallet and eventually forgot about it until last week.
“I was just blown away,” Grisham told The San Diego Union-Tribune after he received the wallet by mail on Saturday. “There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to ground.”
The newspaper said Grisham’s wallet held plenty of mementos from his time on Antarctica which he called “The Ice” as well as his Navy ID and driver’s license, a pocket reference card on what to do during atomic, biological and chemical attacks, a beer ration punch card, a tax withholding statement and receipts for money orders sent to his wife.
